PUBLICATIONS REVIEW BOARD GUIDANCE FOR AGENCY REVIEWERS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06712955
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2019
• Case Number: F-2012-02200

Approved for Release: 2018/11/28 006712955
UNCLASSIFIED
Publications Review Board Guidance for Agency Reviewers
The Publications Review Board is responsible for reviewing all official and non-official
publications for classified and, in certain cases, for inappropriate material, prior to the
publication being shared with others.
You have been identified as a person who is periodically involved or who could be asked to
take part in the publications review process. PRB review partners are normally immediate
supervisors, COTRs, or PMs of current employees or contractors submitting manuscripts for pre-
publication review or may be representatives of components with an equity in the content or persons
having specific subject matter expertise required for the review. The following list of guidelines
and procedures will guide you through your specific responsibilities of the review process.
What You Need To Know About the Review Process
� Proprietary information and limited distribution -- When you receive a Lotus Note
containing a manuscript from the PRB, you are receiving a copy of the manuscript for the sole
purpose of conducting a prepublication review. The information contained within this work is
proprietary (i.e., owned by the author), may be protected by U.S. copyright laws, and therefore
may not be copied or reproduced or otherwise shared with others except as necessary for this
formal review. Once the review has been completed, the manuscript should be deleted from
your files.
� Manuscripts should be treated as classified information -- Until PRB determines that the
information within the manuscript is unclassified, it is treated as classified information and,
therefore, the entire document should be handled as classified material.
� Dissemination within your office -- If you determine that other individuals within your office
need to review the manuscript, you may forward it to them.
� Dissemination outside of your office -- If you believe that someone outside of you office needs
to review the manuscript, notify the PRB so it can forward the manuscript to any additional
Agency office.
Your Role in the Publication Review Process
(1) Identify classified information � by highlighting any classified text. This should be
done as specifically/surgically as possible; that is, by word, phrase, sentence, paragraph (as opposed
to entire pages or chapters).
(2) Provide a specific reason as to why the text is classified � once you have identified
and highlighted the classified text within the submitted document, then either (a) copy and paste the
highlighted classified text into a separate document (e.g., Lotus Note message) and identify why the
text is classified or (b) using "comment boxes" (linked to the highlighted text within the document)
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identify why the text is classified. Be as specific and detailed as possible as this will minimize any
further need to have your reasoning clarified in the future. Additionally, this will form the basis for
Board discussions and any appeals that may follow:
(3) Identify any inappropriate text � i.e., that contains information that may:
o reasonably be expected to impair the performance of the author's job duties.
o interfere with the authorized functions of the CIA.
o have an adverse effect on the foreign relations or security of the U.S.
The Board has determined that current employees and contractors should not comment on,
opine on, or advocate policy regarding intelligence, national security, or foreign relations because
such writings may have a negative effect on the Agency's ability to serve policymakers, as well as
on relations between the Agency and other USG elements, or on relations between the USG and
foreign governments.
If you identify something considered to be inappropriate, please highlight the offending text
(in a different color from any text previously identified as containing classified information) and,
within bracketed remarks immediately following the highlighted text, identify the rationale for why
the text is inappropriate.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Agency's Publications Review Board at:
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Approved for Release: 2018/11/28 006712955